Cherishing Bonds
by Deidara'sgirl19
Summary: Arthur Kirkland and his mom moved to the US to have a fresh start away from an abusive father/husband. Arthur is then taught to cherish the people he loves the most in the world. What will happen when Arthur meets Alfred? Rating may change.
1. Two Different Worlds

**I wanted to write a USxUK fic for a LONG time. Good side: It's easy to write one since USUK is my OTP and I know what to write. Bad Side: That means I now have THREE stories I need to finish T_T**

**Pairings within this story include, but aren't limited to: America/England, Germany/Italy, Italy/Romano (brotherly affection, nothing serious), Prussia/Canada, mild France/Canada. More pairings will be added farther along the storyline.**

**Rated T for language, possible violence, and minor sexual themes. Rating may change later on.**

**This chapter takes place in the past.**

**Hope you like it, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters**

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><p><em>"I can't stand you! Why are you always like this?"<em>

_"You've never shown me any love, and you constantly harass our son!"_

_"That's it, I don't want to hear anymore!"_

_"That's fine with me, you good-for-nothing jackass!"_

_"We'll file out the divorce papers, and you can get the hell out of my house."_

_"Good, and I'm taking Arthur with me!"_

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><p><em>...<em>

3 years ago...

Arthur stared blankly out of the car, looking at the scenery as his mom pulled into the driveway of their new home in San Francisco.

"We're here, honey..."

Arthur looked at his mom. His mom's name was Elizabeth. His grandparents said that they named her after the almighty queen, Elizabeth I. But to Arthur, she's just "Mother".

Arthur and his mom moved to the United States of America from England. Elizabeth and her husband, John, were constantly fighting with each other after Arthur was born. It wasn't until Arthur started 8th grade, however, that things got out of hand. John called Arthur the child that should have never existed. An "accident". A worthless life that should have been aborted before he developed within the womb. Elizabeth, on the other hand, cherished Arthur more than anything in the world. She never once regretted the decision to keep Arthur. That was when Elizabeth realized that John and her were opposites. They both wanted different things and viewed the world differently. And that was when Elizabeth wanted out.

"Mother?" Arthur said with sad eyes. "Why did Father hate me?"

Elizabeth frowned. "He just didn't view the world the way I did, Arthur...he doesn't value human life for what it is." She looked at her son, with serious looking eyes. "Listen to me, Arthur...someday, you'll find a special someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Please...cherish her. Love her and the moments you spend with her."

Arthur hesitantly nodded. "What if I don't find anyone?"

Elizabeth smiled. "You will...I just know it. You're handsome, and you have a wonderful personality. That's what girls love, you know?" She winked at him.

Arthur smiled slightly, before opening the car door, and ran out to search the house.

"Be careful, sweetie!" Elizabeth yelled. 'Please...let Arthur live a happy life in America...and let him find someone he'll truly care about...'

Elizabeth opened her own car door and went into the house.

"Mother, there's three bedrooms. Can I use the other one for my books?" Arthur asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'll make that room into a guest room. I don't expect anyone to stay here, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

Arthur sighed. "But I might need the extra room for school...what school am I going to, again?"

Elizabeth took out a pamphlet from her purse. "World Academy." She smiled. "I'm glad I sent the application to that school. They only accept the brightest kids, and even then there's only about a 40% acceptance rate. That's pretty steep odds for a high school..."

Arthur smiled. "Don't worry, Mother. I got straight A's all throughout middle school, and I study and read college level material. I'll do fine."

Elizabeth hugged him. "I don't doubt you for a second."

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><p>Meanwhile, in New York City...<p>

"Hey, Dad! What're you doin'?" Alfred yelled in the garage of his house.

"The car's broken down, son. Hand me that wrench, would you?"

Alfred got a wrench from the tool box and handed it to his dad.

"Are you going to be done by dinner? The Yankees are playing the Red Sox today!" Alfred said.

His dad dropped what he was doing and came out from underneath the car. "I think the car can wait. Let's watch that game!"

Alfred cheered and ran into the house, his dad following him.

"Paul! Are you done fixing the car _yet_?" A woman yelled from the kitchen.

"Relax Barbara, I think a baseball game is a little more important than a car." Paul smirked.

"Yeah, Mom!" Alfred smiled.

Barbara glared at Alfred. "And you. Are you done with your homework?"

"Relax Mom, I think a baseball game is a little more important than homework!" Alfred sneered.

Paul laughed and patted Alfred on the back. "That's my son!"

Barbara sighed. "Like father like son...oh well. Hey, Alfred, tell Matthew that dinner's ready."

Alfred nodded and ran upstairs. "Hey, Mattie! Dinner's ready!" He barged into his room.

Matthew rubbed his forehead. "I _really_ need to convince Mom to give us separate rooms..."

"Aww, don't you love me?" Alfred said with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm the older brother and I deserve some privacy." Matthew told him.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're older by three minutes. Big deal!" Alfred then snickered. "...And privacy for _what_?"

Matthew threw a pillow into Alfred's face. "Get your mind out of the gutter! If you must know, I was doing my homework. I'm taking all Honors classes and I need good grades to get into World Academy. Unlike YOU, Mr. Fails in Every Class Except P.E."

Alfred pretended to be stabbed in the heart. "Ouch, just kill me why don't you?" Alfred laughed. Matthew chuckled as well.

"Hey, you two! The game started!" Paul yelled from downstairs.

"C'mon, you're making me miss it!" Alfred said, pulling Matthew all the way down the stairs.

Paul and Barbara were cuddled next to each other on the sofa, and Alfred and Matthew proceeded to lie on the floor right in front of the TV.

"Yankees are winning 1 to 0, bottom of the 3rd." Paul told the boys.

"This is nice, watching a game with the whole family like this..." Barbara smiled calmly. "We're lucky to have a family who cares for one another."

Paul laughed. "Hah! I guess that means we look at the world the same way, huh?"

Barbara smiled at him, and they gently kissed each other on the lips.

"Hey, Jesse and Rebecca! Either watch the game, or make kissy faces at each other somewhere else!" Alfred laughed.

Barbara looked at her son. "You watch too much Full House...why do you even watch that show? That show ended in 1995."

Alfred smiled. "Thank you, cable!"

Paul and Barbara chuckled. Matthew smiled gently.

"Home Run!"

They looked at the TV, and they saw that the Red Sox scored a home run with two people on the bases.

"Score is now 1-3, with Red Sox in the lead!"

"Dammit!" Alfred yelled.

Barbara gasped. "Alfred! Don't use that language in my house!" She turned to Paul. "Paul, say something!"

However, Paul was too preoccupied with the game. "Dammit, the Yankees need to take out that pitcher!"

Barbara looked exhausted. "Ugh...men."

Matthew looked at her. "Don't put me in the same group as them, Mom..."

Barbara's face lit up and she immediately embraced Matthew. "I'm sorry, baby! I forgot, you take after my side of the family...the side with common sense!"

"Hey!" Alfred and Paul yelled at the same time. The whole family then laughed, and went back to watching the game.

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><p><strong>Because this was a flashback, I wanted it to be a little short. Don't worry, I'll try to make the next chapters longer.<strong>

**I hope you liked it!**


	2. Welcome to World Academy

**So much pressure to make this chapter awesome. I hope I didn't disappoint! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters**

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><p>Present Day...<p>

...

"Hey, Mattie! There's an envelope in the mail for you!" Alfred yelled. Matthew raced downstairs and grabbed the envelope from his brother. He opened it, and began to read its contents.

_"Dear __Mr. Matthew Williams,_

_ Judging from your transcripts, we are pleased to inform you that you are hereby accepted into World Academy. Enclosed within this letter are your class schedule, World Academy rules and regulations, and a map of the school grounds. Classes begin on the fourth of September. We are honored to have a bright mind such as yourself within our academy._

_Sincerely, _

_Robert Thompson, Headmaster"_

"Mom! I got into World Academy!" Matthew shouted. Well, actually, it wasn't really a shout. More like a loud whisper.

"What was that dear?" Barbara walked out of the kitchen to where the two boys were standing.

"I got into World Academy." Matthew smiled.

Barbara looked as happy as any mother could be. "That's wonderful! Hey, Paul! Our son made it into World Academy!"

Paul came rushing into the room and scooped up Matthew in his arms. "That's my boy!"

"Ugh, Dad...I'm not a little kid anymore." Matthew squeaked.

"Hey...I got one of those big envelopes too!" Alfred yelled, waving a large manila envelope around.

Barbara and Paul's eyes widened, and Matthew looked shocked.

Alfred ignored the weird facial expressions his family was making, and opened the envelope, reading the contents of the letter aloud.

_"Dear Mr. Alfred Jones,_

_ We have received notice from your middle school that you are an excellent football player. Therefore, we hereby extend a sports scholarship to you from World Academy. Enclosed within this letter are your class schedule, World Academy rules and regulations, and a map of the school grounds. Classes begin on the fourth of September. We are honored to have a talented athlete attend our Academy._

_Sincerely,_

_Robert Thompson, Headmaster"_

"Wow! I got into World Academy too, Mattie!" Alfred cheered. "Looks like you and me will be roomies!"

Matthew grimaced. "Not if I have something to say about it. How did YOU of all people get into World Academy?"

Alfred shrugged. "They saw my talent for sports, so they let me join?"

"Figures." Matthew frowned.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you! Both my boys, going to one of the most prestigious high schools in America!" Barbara began to tear up. "Give me a hug, both of you!" She grabbed hold of both her sons, and squeezed them tightly.

"Don't break them, honey. They need to be in one piece for school!" Paul laughed. "September 4th is a week from now. That school needs to give us a heads up on these types of things, I swear!"

"What do your schedules say?" Barbara asked Alfred and Matthew.

"Umm..." Matthew reached for his schedule. "The classes I have are AP Calculus, AP World History, AP Biology, AP English 9, Photography, and Physical Education."

Alfred looked at his schedule. "I have Life Science, Algebra 1, English 9, World History, Cooking, and Physical Education."

Paul scratched his head. "Who schedules these again?"

Barbara looked over a World Academy pamphlet. "It says here that the classes are assigned to each student based on their own strengths and weaknesses. Freshman-Sophomore level students have their classes assigned to them, while Junior-Senior level students can choose their own classes."

"Well that's an unusual way of doing things." Alfred said, confused.

"Mom, we should go shopping for some school clothes, and supplies. And we need to pack the stuff we're going to bring...World Academy is in San Francisco, so we'll have to stay in a dorm." Matthew told Barbara.

Barbara gasped. "That's right! C'mon, my little men! We need to go shopping, and buy plane tickets for the both of you!"

Alfred and Matthew both looked happy. They were going to World Academy...who knew what was in store for them there...

And so, a week past, and Alfred and Matthew arrived at World Academy.

...

"Whoooooa!" Alfred echoed, looking up at the tall building. "World Academy is so huge!"

Students walking in and out of the school were beginning to stare at the strange teenager.

Matthew nudged Alfred on the shoulder. "You're embarrassing me, Alfred!"

Alfred scratched his head, smiling. "So, where's the dorms?"

Matthew pulled out the map. "First, we have to go to the head office."

They both walked into the academy, and after walking down corridor after corridor, they finally made it to the office. They both slowly entered.

"May I help you two?" A young woman asked them.

"Hello, we're new to this school, and we were wondering where our dorms were?" Matthew asked. He handed the young woman his and Alfred's schedules.

"Ah, Mr. Matthew Williams, and Mr. Alfred Jones." She looked over the information. "It says here that you two are twins...so why do you two have different last names?"

Alfred smiled. "Our mom thought that since she named Mattie, he'll have her maiden name, and since our dad named me, I'll have his name!"

The young woman nodded. "Here are your ID cards. You'll need them to join clubs and attend school events. Boys dorms are in the East Wing. The dorms aren't segregated, so Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are all mixed on each floor. Any questions?"

"Where do you sign up for clubs? And when do classes start and end?" Matthew asked.

"You sign up for clubs in this office, actually. You may sign up for any club you wish, and you have no limit on how many you join. Classes begin at 8:00am and end at 3:00pm. Club times vary depending on which ones you sign up for."

"Who plans the school events? And what if we want to join a sports team?" Alfred asked excitedly.

The young woman smiled. "School events are all planned out by the Student Council. And you may join a sport once that particular season starts. Tryouts are held a week before the start of a season."

Alfred's eyes lit up. "I wanna join Student Council please!"

"Alright, sign right here..." The young woman handed him a piece of paper on a clipboard. Alfred signed it and gave it back.

"You will most likely be a Class Representative for the Freshman grade, since there are no more Council spots open. There are three class reps for each grade. The Student Council president is Elizabeta Héderváry, she's a senior from Hungary. The Vice President is Ludwig Beilschmidt, he's a junior from Germany. The secretary is Arthur Kirkland, he's a junior originally from England. And the Treasurer is Vash Zwingli, he's a freshman from Switzerland." The young woman told him. "I hope you enjoy the school year here!"

Alfred and Matthew smiled at her and left the office.

"Now...which way to the dorms..." Matthew saw the sign that read 'East Wing', and he and Alfred went down the long corridor.

"Hey hey, Mattie! We're in the same dorm room!" Alfred cheered.

Matthew groaned. "My life feels cursed..."

They finally made it to their dorm room. Matthew opened the door with a key the woman at the office gave them, and they both went inside.

"Nice room!" Alfred yelled. He immediately dropped his luggage in the middle of the room and sat on one of the beds. "There's two beds, a desk...wow, and it even has a nice view of the front of the school!"

Matthew put his luggage next to his bed. The one that Alfred DIDN'T sit on.

"The schedule says that the first day is for getting to know people and taking a look around the school. So we can do whatever we want, in other words." Matthew told Alfred.

Alfred's eyes lit up. "Yes! Let's go wander around the school, Mattie!"

"That's not such a bad idea, actually." Matthew smiled. He gently put his stuffed polar bear, Kumajiro, down on his bed and he and Alfred left their room.

"The map says that if we continue down this way...we'll reach the cafeteria." Matthew said.

"Good, cause I'm starving." Right on cue, Alfred's stomach rumbled. "Is there a MacDonald's in this place?"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt it."

They finally made it to the cafeteria. A bunch of students were sitting in their own respective groups, chatting and eating.

"Most of these people are probably sophomores and above, seeing that they already know a lot of people." Matthew's eyes wandered around the cafeteria.

"Yeah..." Alfred said, groaning as his hunger was overwhelming him. "Do we have any money for lunch?"

Matthew shook his head. "Mom gave ME the money to watch YOU'RE eating habits. So I'm not giving you any money until dinner."

"Aww come on!" Alfred yelled, reaching towards Matthew in an attempt to get the money from him...wherever he put it.

While he did that, he accidently tripped over Matthew's foot, causing him to run into someone walking into the cafeteria.

"Hey, watch it you bloody git!" The teenager yelled.

Alfred regained his balance, and stood up to see a very angry teenager staring back at him. He had blonde hair a little brighter than his own, and he was dressed in a dress shirt and tie. But his most notable feature...was his eyebrows.

"O-Oh! Sorry about that, uh..." Alfred scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Just watch where you're going!" The young man yelled, and walked back out of the cafeteria. By that time, everyone was staring at Alfred and Matthew.

"Who was that?" Matthew said quietly while Alfred was still figuring out what just happened.

"That was Arthur Kirkland." A voice said from behind them. Matthew and Alfred jumped and turned around to see a short teenager with black hair. His stare looked blank and emotionless.

"Arthur Kirkland?" Matthew asked.

"Hey! He was the Student Council secretary that woman in the office told us about!" Alfred said.

The teenager nodded. "Oh, sorry for my rudeness." He bowed to them. "My name is Kiku Honda. I came to World Academy from Japan. I'm a junior here."

"My name is Matthew Williams, and this is my twin brother, Alfred Jones. We're freshman." Matthew introduced them.

Kiku nodded. "Pleased to meet you."

"Now, about that Arthur guy..." Alfred began.

"Ah, right." Kiku looked at Alfred. "He's a junior here. But ever since he began his junior year, he's been very rude and doesn't care about anyone. He's completely cut off his ties with the friends he met during his first two years here...I don't know much about him, but I can say that something happened to him that made him this way. He used to be so open to making friends..."

"Hmm..." Matthew began thinking. "Did something traumatizing happen to him sometime this year, perhaps?"

Kiku's expression saddened. "I'm not too sure myself."

"Thanks for the information, Kiku!" Alfred smiled.

Kiku smiled back. "It's alright."

"Can we be friends? We don't know anyone around here." Alfred added in.

Kiku nodded. "Sure...I'd love to be friends, Alfred-kun."

"Hey, Kiku! Over here!" A high voice yelled.

Alfred, Matthew, and Kiku looked in the direction of the voice. A rambunctious young man was waving his arms back and forth, while an intimidating looking blonde haired young man was looking at him, his face obviously embarrassed.

"Ah. Excuse me, but those are my friends." Kiku told them. "Shall I introduce you?"

Alfred smiled. "Hell yeah!"

Matthew nodded as well.

Kiku nodded, and followed the way to the table, with Alfred and Matthew close behind.

"Kiku! Kiku! It's good to see you again, ve~!" The young man yelled. "Who are your friends?"

Kiku motioned towards Alfred and Matthew. "This is Alfred Jones-kun, and Matthew Williams-kun. They are brothers, and they're freshman."

The young man smiled. "Hi! My name is Feliciano, I'm from Italy, and I'm a sophomore!" He then pointed towards the man sitting next to him. "And this is Ludwig Beilschmidt, he's from Germany, and he's a junior!"

"...Pleasure." Ludwig said.

"Hey, you're from Student Council, aren't you?" Alfred asked.

Ludwig nodded. "I'm the Vice President."

Alfred nodded. "Do you know anything about Arthur Kirkland, by any chance?"

Ludwig began thinking. "He changed a lot since sophomore year, I guarantee that much...I do recall he took some time off school for some reason, but I'm not sure why."

"I see..." Alfred frowned.

"Why the interest in Arthur?" Feliciano asked.

"Alfred-kun ran into Arthur-san a few minutes ago." Kiku told them. "Arthur-san wasn't too happy about it."

"I see..." Ludwig said calmly. "By the way...I've been told that you want to join the Student Council, is that correct, Alfred?"

"Yes!" Alfred said cheerfully.

"Come by the Student Council room after classes tomorrow. You can meet the President and the rest of the council." Ludwig told him.

"Alright! Thanks, dude!" Alfred yelled.

"Alfred, I think we should go back to the room...it's almost dinner." Matthew told him.

Alfred looked at him. "Dinner? Awww, but I'm hungry now, Mattie!"

Matthew sighed. "We'll order pizza or something."

"I can live with that, haha!" Alfred laughed. "See ya guys tomorrow!" He waved back at Ludwig, Feliciano, and Kiku as Matthew pulled him out of the cafeteria.

"What's up, Mattie? You seemed to be in a hurry to get me out of the cafeteria!" Alfred told him.

Matthew sighed. "You shouldn't pry into other people's business, Alfred. What if that Arthur guy found out you were trying to get information on him. He'd probably beat you up!"

Alfred shrugged. "But aren't you curious as to what happened to him? I want to help him!"

"Will you grow out of your hero phase already?" Matthew frowned. "It gets annoying sometimes."

Alfred stuck his tongue out at Matthew. "No way."

Once again, Matthew sighed. "Fine fine. Just keep me out of it. And classes start tomorrow, so we need our rest."

"But what about dinner?" Alfred whined.

"Don't worry, I ordered some pizza while you were talking to Ludwig." Matthew told him. "The pizza should be arriving to our room soon."

"Matthew..." Alfred hugged his brother. "What would I do without you?"

"Alright alright...now quit it. People are beginning to stare." Matthew said quietly.

And Alfred and Matthew both walked back to their room.

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><p><strong>Lol you thought I'd put Alfred and Arthur in the same dorm room, didn't you? x3<strong>

**About the whole thing with Arthur...don't worry, I know what I'm doing with that haha. It'll make more sense later on xD**

**I hope you liked it!**


	3. Disclosure

**I managed to write a long chapter! I feel so accomplished. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters.**

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><p>That evening, Alfred decided to walk around campus for a while.<p>

'My final night of freedom, before I have school...and homework...' Alfred sighed. He began to look around the dorms a little, hoping to meet some new friends, and possibly even a certain British gentleman he ran into earlier that day.

"Oh, aren't you Kiku's friend Alfred, ve?" A familiar voice asked him from behind. Alfred turned around to see Feliciano. "What are you doing wandering around here?" Feliciano asked.

"Hey, Feliciano!" Alfred smiled. "I was bored...thought I'd wander around enjoying the last amount of freedom I have before school starts."

Feliciano looked happy. "Oooh, if you have nothing to do, you should come hang out in my dorm room! Ludwig is my roommate, and his brother Gilbert is hanging out with us! We were going to watch some TV!"

Alfred smiled again. "That sounds great, thanks!" And he followed Feliciano back to his [Feliciano's] dorm room.

"Hey, Ludwig, Gilbert! We have a guest!" Feliciano chirped from the doorway. When Alfred walked into the room, he could see Ludwig sitting on the couch. Another guy was sitting next to him, whom Alfred assumed was Gilbert. He had messy white hair and piercing dark red eyes. He wore loose jeans that showed his boxers, and a loose fit t-shirt. He looked like a delinquent.

"Oh, Alfred." Ludwig got up. "You're joining us?"

Alfred nodded. "Guess so."

"I'm going to pop some popcorn!" Feliciano announced and ran to where the microwave was.

"Don't make a mess! I don't want to clean up after your messes _again_!" Ludwig yelled before he sat back down on the couch. Alfred walked farther into the room and saw that they were watching _Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince_.

"Cool! The movie was way better than the book!" Alfred exclaimed.

Feliciano looked at Alfred. "I read the books, they were more awesome!"

"Do you know what's more awesome than that?" Gilbert asked. "ME, that's who!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, while Feliciano smiled innocently.

"Why are you watching this movie, anyway? American movies are better than British ones!" Alfred asked.

"I borrowed this movie from Arthur a year ago." Feliciano told him.

Alfred did a double-take. "O-ONE YEAR AGO? Why do you still have it?"

Feliciano frowned. "I tried to call him to give it back, but he never returned my calls. When I finally saw him at school this year, he acted as if he didn't know me and gave me a dirty look. So I thought he didn't want it anymore..."

Alfred was puzzled. "I wonder why he changed like that...Kiku said the same thing."

"He's probably goin' through some family issues." Gilbert laughed. "My friend Francis has known Arthur ever since they were kids. Said something about his mom being sick, and her wanting Arthur to make amends with his dad or something."

"Did something happen between Arthur and his dad?" Alfred asked.

Gilbert shrugged. "No clue. You should ask Francis. He should be down by the girls dorm pimpin' out the cheerleaders."

Alfred cringed. "I think I'll pass."

"Want some popcorn, Alfred?" Feliciano asked.

"Sure, I'm starving!" Alfred yelled and helped himself to some popcorn. He sat down on the floor, while Feliciano took his spot next to Ludwig.

...

Alfred woke up on the floor and looked at his watch. '11:36pm, huh?' Alfred slowly got up and rubbed his head. He stared at the sofa and found Feliciano cuddled in Ludwig's arms. Alfred stared at them. 'So they're...that explains a lot...' He backed up slowly. 'Shouldn't interrupt their happy hour...' And he made his way to the door.

"Goin' so soon, Alfred?"

Alfred looked at one of the beds to find Gilbert sitting on it, wide awake.

"I want to look around some more...before tomorrow." Alfred began thinking. "Hey...do you think Francis is still awake?"

Gilbert laughed. "Damn right he's probably still awake. Still down by the girls dorm. I bet my awesome self on it."

Alfred nodded. "Can you lead me to him?"

"Hah! Want to dig up some dirt on Arthur, eh?" Gilbert smirked. He got up and walked towards the door.

"Eh...Ludwig..."

Alfred and Gilbert looked at the couch, where they saw Feliciano and Ludwig getting more...intimate. Alfred looked disturbed. When he looked at Gilbert's face, however, he could tell that Gilbert seemed hurt. Could he be jealous?

Alfred and Gilbert both walked out of the room, and they both walked down towards the girls' dorm.

"So...I noticed that you looked jealous when you saw Feliciano and Ludwig cuddle..."

Gilbert turned his head towards Alfred. "Wh-What?"

"You like that Feliciano guy, _don't_ you?" Alfred said with a smirk.

Gilbert's face turned bright red. "Hell no, he's my bro's boy toy. Why would I like someone so childish, stupid...kind...cute..." Gilbert's eyes began to water.

"Whoa man, don't go crying on me!" Alfred yelled. "It's cool being alone sometimes, I don't have anyone, and I'm fine!"

Gilbert looked at him. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm happy being alone! HAPPY!"

"..." Alfred stared blankly at Gilbert. 'LIES.'

"Will you keep it down, mes amis, you'll wake up the whole dorm." Someone stated.

Alfred looked in the direction of the voice to see a long blonde haired young man with a small goatee.

"Shut the fuck up, Francis." Gilbert said. "We were looking for you."

"For moi?" Francis winked at Alfred. "And to what do I owe this honor, mon cher?"

"Sorry, dude, I don't roll that way." Alfred put his hands up in defense. "What can you tell me about Arthur Kirkland?"

Francis raised an eyebrow at the American. "Arthur? And why do you want to know about him?"

"I ran into him earlier today, and he went off on me...and then people keep tellin' me that he wasn't always like that. I just wanna know what's up." Alfred told him.

Francis merely shrugged. "That iz not a good enough reason to dig up information on someone, uh..."

"Alfred." Alfred introduced himself.

"Alfred." Francis continued. "Before you ask _me_ why Arthur iz acting so rude, why not try and befriend him? You might learn something."

Gilbert looked at Alfred. "Ya know, Arthur is in the Student Council...aren't you gonna be in the Student Council too?"

"That's right!" Alfred's eyes widened. "I'll just have to try and be friends with him while at the meeting! Thanks guys!" And Alfred ran back in the direction of his dorm.

"Not the smartest boy." Francis chuckled. "This could turn out interesting..."

...

-Next Day, First day of school-

"Alfred...hey, Alfred!"

"Nngh..." Alfred slowly opened his eyes. What greeted him was the bright sunlight seeping in through the window, and his brother desperately trying to get him to wake up.

"Alfred...it's time for classes..." Matthew said quietly.

"...!" Alfred shot up from his bed. "Crap!" And ran into the bathroom.

Matthew sighed. "I'm going on ahead, since we don't have any classes together...except for P.E."

"Alright, catch ya later!" Alfred yelled from the bathroom. He heard the door close, signaling that Matthew had left. Alfred then got out of the bathroom and got dressed. 'Damn, I'm late to my first class!' He quickly opened the door and ran out...only to once again run into a familiar face.

"I'm sorry dude!" Alfred winced. "I'm in a hurry."

"Late to your first class, I assume?"

Alfred nodded. "Yea...!" He looked at the person he ran into, and saw that it was none other than Arthur Kirkland.

"This isn't going to look good on your school record, Alfred F. Jones." Arthur gave Alfred a look that was almost spiteful. "World Academy takes pride in being one of the most elite schools in the world. How you even got in is a surprise to me."

"How did you know my name?" Alfred asked.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "That is none of your business. Now if you'll excuse me, I have classes to get to."

Alfred glared at him. "Aren't you a hypocrite? Saying I'm late to class when you are as well?"

"If you must know, I was at the nurse's office taking care of...private matters." Arthur told him.

"...?" As Alfred got a closer look at Arthur's face, he saw that Arthur winced in pain for a moment.

"I don't even know why I'm explaining myself to a wanker like you." Arthur tried to hurry up, in the hopes of leaving without Alfred following him. He had no such luck.

"Hey, umm...I heard some pretty nasty stuff about ya. How come you don't want any friends?" Alfred asked innocently.

"..." Arthur's face briefly twisted in pain, but he said nothing. He just continued to walk down the hall.

Alfred sighed, but let him go. Alfred then ran to his first class...which was already half way over by the time he found his classroom.

...

*Ring*

The school bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the first school day. After running through miles of corridors, Alfred finally made it to the Student Council room. He quietly opened the door and went inside.

"Alright, first order of business!" A young woman proudly stated. "The Fall Dance is coming up soon and we need to come up with a theme!"

While the members of the council were muttering to themselves, the class representatives were loud and noisy, yelling out whatever theme that came into their heads.

"I want a sports theme!"

"No, it has to be romantic, like a nature theme!"

"What about a space theme!"

Alfred looked around the room and saw that some of the council members were getting annoyed.

"Can I shoot them?" One blonde young man asked flatly.

"No, you may not shoot them...though the thought of beating them up is quite tempting." The young woman said impatiently.

Then, Ludwig stood up. "Everyone SHUT UP!"

The whole room got quiet. Alfred nearly jumped out of his clothes.

"You will all take turns stating your ideas! No more than eight minutes per person!" Ludwig yelled. "And listen to the president when she's talking to you!" And with that, Ludwig sat back down.

"Thank you Ludwig." The president said. "As I was stating..."

The meeting lasted for about a half an hour, before people were getting bored and they decided to cut the meeting short. Alfred was still standing by the door, waiting for everyone to clear out.

"Oh, Alfred." Ludwig noticed him and gestured his hand to tell Alfred to enter the room.

"Glad you could join us...there's probably not going to be any spots available in Student Council at the moment, but the voting is still underway I suppose." Ludwig told him.

Alfred nodded, and followed Ludwig to where the other members were.

"And who's this, Ludwig?" The president asked.

Ludwig looked at her. "This is Alfred F. Jones. He wants to be part of the council." Ludwig looked at Alfred. "Alfred, this is Elizabeta Héderváry. She's the Student Council president."

Elizabeta smiled. "Pleased to meet you, Alfred!" She came up to Alfred and patted him on the back...rather forcefully. Alfred winced.

"This is the Treasurer, Vash Zwingli." Ludwig pointed to the young man with blonde hair wearing a white beret.

"Hmph." Vash looked away, crossing his arms.

"And I'm assuming you already know Arthur Kirkland?" Ludwig asked Alfred. "He's the Secretary...but he was absent from the meeting today."

"I hope Arthur returns to his normal self soon!" Elizabeta looked worried. "It's not good to be a loner all your life!"

"I ran into him earlier today, actually!" Alfred explained. "He seemed like he was in pain. He told me he went to the nurses office."

Elizabeta and Ludwig just stared at Alfred.

Alfred looked confused. "Wh-What?"

"I'm surprised Arthur told you _anything_, let alone where he was!" Elizabeta said, her eyes wide with surprise. "Maybe Arthur has a...sweet spot for you?" She blushed, giggling like a little kid.

"...?" Alfred was still confused.

Elizabeta realized that Alfred didn't understand what she was implying. "Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about!" She pushed Alfred out the door. "Next meeting is on Friday, you should come!" She waved at Alfred and then shut the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" Alfred wondered, scratching his head. He shrugged and checked his cell phone. There was one message in his inbox.

'Mattie sent me a text...' Alfred opened the message.

_Sorry, I'm so busy with homework and a huge project we were given in AP World History, that I'll be in the library for most of the day. Hope you fine __without me? D:_

Alfred frowned. 'He really needs to learn how to abbreviate...'

_I'll be fine, bro ^_^ ttyl!_

Alfred sent the message, and put his phone away. 'Guess I'll just walk around campus...again.' He sighed. 'Nothing for me to do around here until football tryouts start in a couple of weeks...'

Alfred decided to explore the front of the school. He observed all the people coming and going, many of whom already had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Alfred then wondered when he was ever going to get a girlfriend. As he looked around some more, his eyes stopped at the bus stop. He saw Arthur standing there, his face looking somewhat melancholic. Alfred ran up to him.

"Yo, Arthur!" Alfred yelled.

Arthur sighed, doing his best to ignore the other man's voice.

"What're you doing at the bus stop? Don't you have a dorm room?" Alfred asked.

Arthur looked at him, annoyed. "Isn't there someone else you can bother? Someone that isn't ME?"

"You didn't answer my question." Alfred pouted.

"Why do you want to know?" Arthur said angrily.

Alfred smiled. "Cause I was hoping we could be friends!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I don't want, nor do I need friends. Just leave me alone."

"...Bullshit." Alfred said.

"Excuse me?" Arthur looked at him.

"No one is happy in life if they don't have anyone to share their lives with!" Alfred yelled. "You can't just automatically cut your bonds with people without any explanations either! I would be pretty damn miserable if I didn't have friends."

"You..." Arthur's lower lip began to tremble. "You don't know a thing about me...about what I've been through...don't just assume that you know everything!" Alfred saw that Arthur's eyes began to water. Arthur then broke down in tears in front of the bus stop, his face low to the ground. "Just...just leave me alone..."

People began to stare at Arthur as they passed by him. They didn't want to say anything, but they all had a look of pity on their faces.

Alfred kneeled down next to Arthur. "Why don't we go somewhere and talk about what you're going through? I might not understand at first, but it's always nice just to have a shoulder to cry on, ya know?"

Arthur looked up at Alfred. "...I have to go visit my mom, though..."

Alfred smiled. "Then how bout we swing by your mom's place first, then we can go somewhere of your choice? Mainly cause I've never been to San Francisco before..."

Arthur blankly stared at Alfred, a small and well hidden smile forming across his face. "...Sure..."

"Glad to hear it!" Alfred cheered. As if right on cue, the bus arrived. Alfred and Arthur got onto the bus.

"Mr. Kirkland." The bus driver greeted him.

"Good Afternoon." Arthur greeted back.

"Goin' to the hospital again, I'm assuming?" The bus driver asked.

"That's right." Arthur told him.

'...Hospital?' Alfred said with a worried look directed at Arthur.

Arthur kept a straight face and sat down at the back of the bus. Alfred sat next to him.

The bus slowly departed from the school, dropping off the rest of the students where they needed to be. The final stop for the bus driver was at a hospital. Alfred got up when he saw Arthur reach for his jacket and got off the bus. Alfred followed him, still unsure as to why they were dropped off at a hospital of all places. He was going to find out soon enough...

"Hello, may I help you?" The receptionist asked Arthur. "Ah, Mr. Kirkland, back again I see?"

Arthur nodded, then looked at Alfred. "You stay here. I'll...I'll talk to you about it later..."

Alfred hesitantly nodded, and sat down. Arthur disappeared into a room at the very end of the hall.

...

Thirty minutes passed, and Arthur reappeared into the lobby.

"Hey, dude!" Alfred yelled. "That took a long time...is everything okay?"

Arthur remained silent, a look of sadness on his face. "...Everything's alright...let's go." Arthur walked out of the hospital, with Alfred tailing behind him.

"Where do ya want to go?" Alfred asked.

"I know of a place...I always go there when I feel...depressed." Arthur smiled sadly. Alfred was wondering what had happened to Arthur to make his this sad. He nodded and got onto a bus with Arthur.

...

They got off the bus, and took a trolley down towards the bay. They got off the trolley.

"This is Pier 39...it has different gift shops, restaurants, and a nice view of the bay." Arthur smiled.

Alfred smiled as well. "Nice to see you're happier now."

Arthur chuckled slightly, and walked towards the bay. He sat down on a bench, just gazing at the water gently moving.

"You like peaceful things, don't you, Arthur?" Alfred asked.

Arthur nodded. "It helps me think about what I should do...with my life."

"...?" Alfred thought that statement sounded ominous, but decided to ignore it. "I'm more of an energetic, run around kind of guy myself!" He said, while pumping his fist into the air.

"Haha, I can see that..." Arthur smiled.

"I'm glad you're opening up to me." Alfred said. "Can you please tell me what's going on? Why you've been cutting off your ties with everyone else? I just don't get it."

Arthur's smile quickly disappeared.

Alfred sighed. "I can help you when you're at your worst...isn't that what friends do?"

"I don't ever recall me accepting you as a friend..." Arthur said to him.

"Well, I made up my mind. I'm going to be your friend, and you're going to have to deal with it." Alfred smirked.

Arthur stared in awe at the young man. 'Why does he care about me so much...? I've been nothing but rude to him since he came here...so why?' Arthur blushed slightly.

"...Hmm? Is something wrong? Your face is all flushed." Alfred said, concerned. "Are you getting sick?"

"N-No, I'm feeling quite alright..." Arthur said, avoiding Alfred's gaze. He went back to staring at the water. "You know, Alfred...sometimes I wish I could be like water."

Alfred looked confused.

Arthur continued. "Water just comes and goes when it pleases...being all calm...but sometimes, it can also be an unstoppable force...getting rid of any obstacles it encounters."

Alfred looked at Arthur. "...Do YOU have any obstacles you want to...get rid of?"

Arthur bit his lip. "...My mother is in the hospital...she's ill, and the doctor's still can't determine what's wrong with her...she's been like that for about a year now..."

Alfred gasped. "I'm sorry, Artie..." His face saddened.

Ignoring the nickname Alfred gave him, Arthur continued. "...And what's worse...she wants me to make amends with my father...the same man who thought I shouldn't have existed...the same man who couldn't stand me being a part of his life. He loved my three older brothers...but when I came along, he despised me." Tears began to flow from Arthur's eyes. "I don't understand why Mother would ask me to forgive that...that arsehole." He put his hands to his face. "I just wish that he could fall off the face of the Earth...that HE never existed..."

Alfred listened to Arthur's story. He took it all in, and finally, he placed his arm over Arthur and pulled him in towards his own body. Arthur looked surprised.

"Well, whatever happens...I want to help you go through this." Alfred smiled at him. "I'll be with you every step of the way! ...Whatever you decide on, I'll be there to support you!"

"A-Alfred..." Arthur couldn't take it anymore. He buried his head into Alfred's chest and began to cry. Alfred might not have known it at the time, but that what the first time Arthur has ever openly showed his true feelings.

Alfred was surprised by Arthur's actions, but didn't do anything to stop it. He just waited until Arthur calmed down.

Once Arthur stopped crying, Alfred helped him up. "Why don't we head back to school? It's getting pretty late." Alfred said.

Arthur nodded, and got up from the bench with Alfred's help. As they were walking to the bus stop, Arthur paused for a moment. Alfred looked at him.

"...Th-Thank you...Alfred..." Arthur managed to say.

Alfred smiled. "Don't mention it...you're my friend...that's what friends do."

Alfred and Arthur sat down at the bus stop, waiting for the next bus to take them back to World Academy. And just like that, Alfred and Arthur became friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 complete! So how was it? <strong>

**Lol Arthur seems so out of character, but I guess I planned that.**

**And oh Alfred...so oblivious to love it's not even funny x3**

**And I just HAD to add some ****form of Prussia/Italy in this story...it's tied for my 2nd favorite pairing (the other being Itacest)! But don't worry, by the end of the story it will end up being Prussia/Canada.**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I hope you liked this chapter as well!**


	4. Disgrace

I'm still alive, people! So sorry it took me so long to update. These past few weeks have been filled with nothing but final projects that desperately needed to be completed. But here's the good news: Tomorrow is the last day of school for me! That way I'll have more time to finish writing chapters (I hope)!

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**CAUTION: Those of you that haven't read**** [the ending to] **_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows**_**, and/or haven't watched **_**Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides**_**, shouldn't read this chapter until they do. Spoilers for both of them are present in this chapter.**

**And just as a precaution, I'm changing the rating to M. The language and the subject matter in this chapter might be offensive to some.**

And I apologize ahead of time if I disgraced any foreign languages I decided to use in this chapter...I only know English, and I only took French for two years, alright? D;

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or its characters

* * *

><p>~Lunch Time~<p>

Alfred was looking all around the cafeteria for Arthur. He smiled when his eyes stopped on the older Brit. He ran up to him.

"Hey, Arthur!" Alfred sat down next to him. Arthur's head rose from the book he was reading. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything today, once school gets out?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't you have homework to do? You'll be kicked out of this academy if you don't maintain at least a 3.5 GPA.

"My homework's easy for me to do!" Alfred stated proudly. "It'll only take me 30 minutes!"

One of Arthur's eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

"...Hey, what class do you have after lunch?" Alfred asked.

"Cooking." Arthur stated matter-of-factly.

Alfred's eyes widened. "No way, me too! But I didn't see you the first day of class?"

"...I had more pressing matters to deal with..." Arthur's eyes saddened.

"Oh, I see, well maybe we can walk to class together this time?" Alfred asked cheerfully.

Arthur looked at him. "Even if I said no, you'll probably walk with me anyway."

The bell rang, so Arthur closed his book, got up, and walked out of the cafeteria. Alfred got up and ran after him.

"Wait up, Artie!" Alfred yelled.

Meanwhile, there were people whispering to each other.

"Did that freshman actually become friends with Arthur?"

"That's impossible."

"Didn't Arthur ditch all his friends? What makes _that guy_ so special?"

"Actually...I heard that *whisper*"

"What?"

The whispers continued.

~Cooking Class~

Arthur and Alfred walked into the classroom. Alfred sat in his assigned seat, while Arthur walked up to the teacher.

"Excuse me, Ms. Johnson? I'm afraid I wasn't present yesterday and do not know where my seat is." Arthur told the teacher.

Ms. Johnson smiled and looked at her roster. "You're...Arthur Kirkland, correct?" Arthur nodded.

"Then you sit right..._there_. In between Francis Bonnefoy and Yao Wang."

Arthur cursed under his breath. "Bloody Frog." He obediently sat down in his desk. As he looked around the room, his eyes stopped on Alfred a few desks away. Alfred saw Arthur looking at him and waved at him. Arthur reluctantly waved back.

"You're blushing, Angleterre." Francis teased.

Arthur's face got redder. "I am not, Frog! Why is it that I ALWAYS get stuck in the same classes with you?"

Francis brushed his hair back. "Because you can't live without me?" He winked.

Arthur cringed. "We may have been friends since childhood back in Europe, but honestly, I can't stand you." Arthur scowled. "And stop calling me 'Angleterre'!"

France chuckled. "But that name suits you, non? And you have a terrible French accent."

Before Arthur could protest, someone poked his arm. Arthur turned to look at the Chinese boy next to him.

"If you two are done, I'm trying to listen to the teacher, aru." Yao stated.

Arthur decided to pay attention as well.

"Now class, today we are going to start cooking something simple!" Ms. Johnson smiled. "Who's up for pizza?"

The whole classroom, except Arthur and Francis, cheered.

"Alright, everyone grab a partner and go to your lab counters! The instructions and ingredients you'll need are all there!"

Everyone got out of their seats and immediately went to their stations. Arthur looked around the room for Alfred, but couldn't find him under all the chaos.

"Hey Francis, do you have a partner?" Arthur asked, annoyed.

Francis smirked. "Non, but I would rather not have my perfect grade suffer because of your poor cooking skills."

"There's nothing wrong with my cooking!" Arthur yelled.

"Honestly, have you even TRIED your food?" Francis asked.

"Argh, forget it!" Arthur yelled and stormed off.

While walking around the room, he saw that everyone else already had partners. Even Francis, whom he was just talking to moments before, had partnered up with a girl with long brown hair tied up into two long ponytails with big red bows.

"Oh, what's this?" Ms. Johnson approached Arthur. "You don't have a partner?"

Arthur shook his head.

"Hmmm..." Ms. Johnson looked at each lab station. "Ah! Would it be alright for you to join Alfred and Feliciano at their station?"

Arthur was hesitant at first, but nodded. He then walked over to them.

"Umm..."

Alfred and Feliciano turned around.

"Oh, hey Arthur!" Alfred smiled.

"Can I join your group?" Arthur asked.

Alfred nodded. "Sure ya can! That's alright with you, right Feli?"

Feliciano smiled. "Ve, that's fine with me!" Feliciano hugged Arthur. "I'm glad we're going to be friends again, Arthur!"

'This is why I don't want to have friends...' Arthur thought. His eyes began to get watery, but he managed to hold back the tears.

"Okay, we should get started then." Alfred said, looking over the ingredients. "Looks like we have dough, cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms." He then checked the instructions. "...I'm confused." Alfred stated.

Arthur sighed in frustration. "How hard is it to read the bloody instructions?"

Alfred turned to Feliciano. "You're Italian, right? Can't you tell us what to do?"

Feliciano nodded. "Si si! I can help you guys!" Feliciano immediately got to work on the pizza, kneading the dough and getting the equipment ready.

"Alfred, can you cut up the mushrooms please?" Feliciano asked.

"Yes sir!" Alfred saluted and began chopping the mushrooms. Feliciano then turned to Arthur.

"Arthur, can you preheat the oven to 375 degrees?"

"Sure." Arthur bent down to look at the oven screen. He began to panic, since there were too many buttons and he wasn't familiar with using ovens. His mom would always keep him away from all the kitchen appliances for some reason.

'Uh...is _this_ the dial?' Arthur slowly turned the dial until it landed on the 375 degrees mark.

"Alright, I think we're ready to prepare our pizza, ve~!" Feliciano said.

"Finally, I'm starving!" Alfred put some tomato sauce on his flattened out pizza dough, and then put a heaping load of cheese on top.

"Alfred, are you sure you have enough dough with your cheese?" Arthur asked smugly. "Save some for the rest of us!"

Feliciano put the sauce and cheese on his pizza, then put pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms evenly spread out on top. "Perfecto!"

"Arthur, what did you put on your pizza?" Alfred asked.

"Just sauce, cheese, and mushrooms." Arthur told him.

"Ve, let's put them in the oven now!" Feliciano rushed over to the oven, and put his pizza in. Alfred and Arthur did the same.

"Arthur, set the timer for 35 minutes!" Feliciano said.

"Uh, right." Arthur looked at the timer and pushed the buttons.

"Alright class, while we wait for your pizzas, you're free to talk amongst yourselves!" Ms. Johnson said cheerfully.

Everyone thus began to talk with each other. Arthur sat back down in his desk. He was slightly annoyed by the constant chatter of his classmates. As if right on cue, Alfred sat on top of his desk.

"So, whaddaya want to do later?" Alfred asked.

Arthur looked at him. "Strange. I don't recall agreeing to do anything with you."

Alfred smiled. "You know you want to hang out with me! Admit it!"

Arthur shrugged. "It depends what we do; we could go see a movie, but I have to get back early to do some things for the Student Council meeting tomorrow."

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Alfred yelled. "There's a movie that came out a little while ago that I've been dying to see!"

"Movie it is, then." Arthur said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Cool, what class do you have last? I'll meet you in front of your classroom." Alfred asked.

"I have Statistics. It's on the 2nd floor, room 2-C." Arthur told him.

Alfred wrote down what Arthur told him in his notebook. That was when Francis walked over to them.

"Having fun, you two?" Francis smiled.

"Belt up, Frog." Arthur said with a menacing tone.

"Why are you so mean to me, Angleterre? I 'ave done nothing wrong to you to deserve this much hatred." Francis pretended to be stabbed in the heart.

Arthur's face twisted in anger. "LIAR! You're the one who pushed me out of your treehouse when we were kids!"

Francis frowned. "_That's_ the reason you hate me? Mon dieu, that was an accident!"

"Well, that's just one of the MANY reasons why I despise your existence." Arthur stated with a flat tone.

"Why does Francis call you 'Angleterre'?" Alfred cut in.

Francis's face lit up. "Oh! That's just a little pet name I came up for him when we used to- -"

Before Francis could finish his sentence, Arthur took the tie around Francis's neck and shoved it down his throat.

"Gak!" Francis nearly choked.

"Finish that sentence, and I'll guarantee you won't be alive to see morning." Arthur yelled, one of his eyebrows twitching.

Alfred looked confused. But his thoughts were stopped by a weird smell in the air. He sniffed. "Do you guys...smell something?"

Arthur sniffed the air as well. "I don't smell anything."

Francis, in the process of removing his tie from his throat, sniffed too. "Actually, I smell something too. Don't you smell it, Arthur? That burning sensation whenever you're in the kitchen...?"

It was then that realization hit him. Arthur ran towards the oven he was cooking in and opened the door. A huge ball of smoke came out of the oven, setting off the fire alarm. Arthur began coughing. Alfred and Feliciano ran towards him.

"Damn, you're a bad cook, Artie!" Alfred couldn't help but laugh.

"Bloody hell!" Arthur couldn't stop coughing. "My cooking isn't that bad!"

Alfred smirked. "Sorry, Arthur, but this whole incident just proved otherwise."

Feliciano began to pat Arthur's back. "Don't worry, Arthur! There's always next time!"

"Is everything alright in here?" An administrator from the office came into the room. Ms. Johnson ran up to talk to him.

"I have no idea how that could have happened, I put the timer to 35 minutes!" Arthur yelled.

Alfred looked at the instructions, then at the timer. At the look at how much time was left on the timer, Alfred tried his best not to snicker. "Arthur, the timer has one HOUR left on it." Alfred said, holding back from laughing.

"...Bloody hell." Arthur winced.

Feliciano laughed too. "No wonder it burst into smoke...those were small pizzas we made too!"

Alfred groaned. "Yeah, but now I'm hungry..."

Ms. Johnson walked back to the front of the classroom. "Alright, class, luckily no one was injured. I'm allowing you to leave class early today so I can report this incident to the principal. Something about all incidents have to be reported to him immediately or something." Arthur could have sworn he saw Ms. Johnson's face twist in anger for a split second. "Once your pizzas are done, you can leave." She then looked towards Arthur, Alfred, and Feliciano. "You three may leave now, since you don't have a pizza to wait for."

The rest of the class erupted in laughter. Arthur slowly got up from his seat and hastily walked towards the door. 'Someone please kill me.'

...

~After School~

Alfred walked towards room 2-C, the room Arthur had told him he would be. He had a happy expression on his face. Once he got to the room, he stopped to see Arthur standing outside, talking to a girl unfamiliar to Alfred. For some reason, this made Alfred feel uncomfortable inside. He walked up to them.

"Hey, Arthur!" Alfred exclaimed.

Arthur turned to look at Alfred. "Hello, Alfred. One moment, please." He then looked at the girl. "If you would please help us to plan the dance, the Student Council would be most grateful."

The girl smiled in an 'odd' way. "No problem! Leave the planning to me, I just need a theme and I'm all set!"

Arthur flinched. "See, that's the problem...we can't agree on one theme. Everyone wants a different theme."

The girl shrugged. "Then I guess we'll have to settle this tomorrow!"

Alfred felt left out of the whole conversation. It was completely unlike him, but he continued to stand there silently while the two of them talked. It sounded important, anyway.

Arthur all of a sudden remembered Alfred's presence. "Oh, that's right. Alfred, this is Alice. Alice, this is Alfred."

Alfred looked at the girl. She was tall, and had shoulder-length blonde hair and bright green eyes. "Nice to meet you!"

The girl named Alice smiled. "Nice to meet you too! Awww you're so adorable!" She then proceeded to hug Alfred, nearly suffocating him.

Arthur coughed in his fist. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, Alice?"

Alice let go of Alfred, who was struggling to regain the oxygen he lost. "You bet! Oh, and if you see a taller menacing looking guy with spiked up tan hair, don't worry that's just my brother. He hates it when I go off without him!" Alice smiled and walked off.

Alfred looked back at her in awe. "So who was that?"

"That was Alice." Arthur told him. "She's a senior and one of the most popular girls at this school. She agreed to help the Student Council plan the upcoming fall dance."

Alfred nodded. "I'll be going to the meeting too, I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!"

Arthur stared at him. "You're not even part of the council, how is it that you can come to the meeting?"

Alfred smirked. "Ludwig and Elizabeta gave me special permission."

Sighing, Arthur began walking down the hall. "So, are you coming? You said we were going to see a movie?"

"Oh, right!" Alfred caught up to Arthur and they walked towards the exit to the school.

...

~Movie Theater~

Alfred and Arthur walked into the movie theater towards the ticket booth. They began looking over all the movies.

"So what movie do you want to see, Arthur?" Alfred asked.

Arthur began looking over the list. "Americans seem to have no taste in movies. The only one I wish to see is part 2 of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_, but that doesn't come out for another month or so. Besides, I'm pretty sure the director ruined the plot for this movie like he did the first part."

Alfred laughed. "Why do you want to see the movie when I'm pretty sure you have already read the book? Besides, the storyline goes around in circles! Harry dies at the end, just to come back to life. I mean, was that even necessary? The author should have just kept him alive just to spare a few pages!"

Arthur scowled. "Must you ruin the ending for all of us? And it's called an _important plot point_, you git!"

Alfred shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me, anyways. I only read the ending, cause the first thirty-four chapters were boring."

"Sometimes, I wonder how you even got into World Academy in the first place. I've been in English 9 before, Alfred. You'll have to read five books by the end of the school year. And that's just the minimum."

"Hey, no talk about homework while we're doing something fun. I'm making that a rule from now on." Alfred said, smiling. He decided to look over the movies as well. "Hey, _Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides _is out, wanna go see that?"

Arthur shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Alfred nodded and bought the tickets. They both then walked down the hall and into their theater to watch the movie...

...

...

Alfred and Arthur walked out of the theater. Alfred looked somewhat pleased with the movie. Arthur on the other hand, looked disappointed.

"That movie was WAY funnier than the first three! Remember the part where Jack jumps off the exploding lighthouse? Ooh, and the part when he 'accidentally' mixes up the two cups with the water and the mermaid tear? And don't forget the part when Jack left that chick on the island by herself! Now THAT was funny!" Alfred just kept rambling on and on about the movie.

Arthur looked at him, annoyed. "Bloody hell, you don't have to tell me what I just saw a minute ago!" He pushed his hair out of his face. "And I found the ending quite disappointing, to say the least."

Alfred gaped at him. "WHY? He left that annoying chick on an island out in the middle of fuckin' nowhere! Penelope Cruz isn't even that good-looking!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Arthur yelled. People were beginning to stare at them, so they both continued the argument outside.

"Uh, if I was forced to have a co-star that looked like _that_, I'd leave her on an island, too." Alfred said. "What, don't tell me you actually thought she looked hot?"

Arthur hesitated. "I didn't think she looked hot, no, but- -"

"_I didn't think she looked hot, no, but..._" Someone mimicked Arthur from behind them. Arthur and Alfred both turned around to see a group of teenagers walking towards them. When Arthur saw who they were, his eyes seemed to give of a burning, angry aura. Alfred didn't know who they were, but judging from the look on Arthur's face, he knew them all too well. Walking up to the two teens were the most feared bullies at World Academy: Sadiq Annan, Lovino Vargas, Natalia Afroskaya, and their leader, Ivan Braginski.

"Ivan." Arthur said with a menacing tone. Too be honest, this was the first time Alfred had been almost afraid of him.

"Hey, no one talks to my brother unless you wish for me to disembowel you, got it?" Natalia yelled.

"It's alright, Natalia." Ivan stood in front of Arthur. "Arthur just wants to be left alone, da?" Ivan said. Alfred shivered when he spoke. There was something about Ivan that made him fear his very existence. Something ominous and overly frightening.

Arthur didn't falter, however. He just stood there. "I already have to deal with your crap at school. I don't need to have to deal with your arse outside of school, too."

"Hey, Tea Bastard!" Lovino stepped forward. "Are you scared of Ivan? Is that it? You're the most pathetic piece of shit I've ever seen!"

Alfred got a closer look at Lovino, and his eyes widened. He looked just like Feliciano, with the exception of having darker hair, his hair curl was in the middle of his head instead of to the side, and of course, he had a much fouler mouth.

"You're the last person I would expect to hear that from. You're even more of a coward than your brother." Arthur said smugly.

Lovino's face reddened with anger. "Don't you DARE compare me to my brother!" He punched Arthur in the cheek, causing Arthur to fall to the ground.

"Arthur!" Alfred kneeled down beside him. Arthur was holding his hand up to where he got punched.

"Me and Feli are two different people, dammit! TWO!" Lovino yelled. "And I saw you began talking with him, again. He has me, you Scone Bastard! He doesn't need you!"

'So Feliciano IS this Lovino person's brother.' Alfred thought. Even if he wasn't one of the brightest students, it was pretty clear to Alfred that Lovino suffered from a massive inferiority complex regarding Feliciano. He felt that Lovino had a big brother complex towards Feliciano, as well. A weird combination, Alfred thought. Those two characteristics were almost exact opposites of one another.

Hey, Lovino, save some for the rest of us, will ya?" Sadiq smirked. "I wanna have a shot at beating up this _fag_ too."

Both Arthur's and Alfred's eyes widened.

"What did you call me?" Arthur yelled.

"You heard. F-A-G. FAG." Sadiq yelled back. It was then that Arthur tackled Sadiq. They were now rolling on the ground, throwing punches at each other.

"No one calls me that, NO ONE!" Arthur yelled, tears now forming in his eyes. Alfred tried to stop the fight, but Natalia grabbed Alfred's arm and held him back.

"Let me go!" Alfred yelled. Natalia then pulled a switchblade on him. Alfred froze.

"I suggest you remain very quiet, and very still. Unless you want my hand to accidentally slip. Oops." Natalia cut Alfred's cheek just enough to make it bleed.

"Alfred!" Arthur was distracted just long enough for Ivan to grab Arthur off of Sadiq and held him up by his shirt collar.

"Nngh..." Arthur tried to get loose from Ivan's grip, but with no success.

"We can call you whatever we want, fag." Ivan said, smiling. "We all know you like men. I guess your daddy didn't abuse you enough for you to stop fucking them, huh?"

Arthur's eyes widened in horror as a flashback went through his mind.

_-Flashback-_

_"Arthur, honey, where are you?" Elizabeth said in her sweet, gentle voice. _

_"I swear, if you don't find that boy, I __**will**__." John yelled, following Elizabeth up the stairs. "I'll make sure he comes downstairs when he's told."_

_"John, be patient. He could be busy with homework." Elizabeth told him. John rolled his eyes._

_They walked down the hall, and heard a thud._

_"Did you hear that?" Elizabeth asked. "It sounded like it came from Arthur's bedroom..." They both looked at each other, then darted towards Arthur's room. Elizabeth swiftly opened the door...and was shocked by what she saw._

_Arthur was under Francis, who was kissing him passionately on the floor. _

_"Oh my..." Elizabeth's eyes widened. When John saw the scene, however, his face twisted in anger._

_"What the bloody hell is this? !" He yelled. Arthur and Francis stopped kissing and looked at them._

_"F-Father, I can explain!" Arthur screamed._

_"There's nothing to explain!" John rushed over towards Arthur and pulled him up by his hair. Arthur screamed in pain. "You're coming downstairs right now!" And he dragged Arthur down the stairs._

_In the meantime, Elizabeth just looked at Francis, who got up from the floor and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kirkland...Arthur tried to resist, but I proceed to kiss him anyways." Francis apologized._

_Elizabeth frowned. "You're not the one I'm worried about..." And with that, she and Francis hastily walked down the stairs as well. At the bottom, John was yelling at Arthur, right in the face. Arthur was doing his best to hold his ground, but the tears were already forming._

_"How dare you kiss another MAN, Arthur!" John yelled. _

_"It wasn't his fault, Mr.- -" Francis began, but had no time to finish. John's intimidating look when he glared at him shut him up._

_"And YOU." John spat. "I suggest you leave. And don't ever come back here again."_

_With a swift nod, Francis rushed out of the house._

_"What the hell's goin' on, Dad?" _

_Ian, Collin, and Kane walked into the room. The latter two looked annoyed._

_"You're little brother's a faggot, that's what." John said between quenched teeth._

_"John!" Elizabeth was speechless. "Don't call our son such a derogatory word!"_

_Collin and Kane walked up to Arthur. _

_"Awww, you're crying?" Collin punched him in the cheek. _

_"Ugh!" Arthur fell to the floor. _

_"That'll teach you to bang guy. Homo." Collin sneered._

_Elizabeth kneeled next to Arthur. "John, do something!"_

_John merely shrugged. "Maybe that'll knock some sense into this disgrace you call a son."_

_"JOHN!" Elizabeth looked angry for the first time Arthur can remember. "Upstairs. I need to have to word with you." And with that, they both disappeared upstairs._

_Collin laughed and kicked Arthur. "You don't deserve to be part of this family, boy."_

_Arthur winced. Collin then walked back into the living room, with Kane following him. Kane looked back at Arthur in disgust._

_Arthur struggled to get up from the floor. He almost fell down, had it not been for Ian helping him up. _

_"Don't worry, Arthur. I'll be here to defend you from those two." Ian told him. "Mom will deal with dad. You'll see."_

_A faint smile appeared on Arthur's face. Ian had always been the one to take his side. Being the oldest out of the four of them, he was also the most mature. Even though he always hung around with Collin and Kane, and rarely hung around Arthur, Arthur knew that he could rely on Ian._

_"That kid's not part of this family if he doesn't change his ways, Elizabeth!" _

_"He can be whatever he wants to be, John!" _

_Their argument could be heard from upstairs. Ian then grabbed Arthur's arm._

_"Why don't we get you cleaned up?" Ian asked. Arthur silently nodded._

_-Flashback End-_

Arthur's eyes began to focus again, once the flashback ended. He didn't know it, but tears were streaming from his eyes.

"Aww, look the baby's crying!" Sadiq exclaimed.

Ivan smiled and let go of Arthur. Arthur couldn't hold his weight up any longer and fell to the floor. He was trembling, and held his arms up in front of his body as if it was a natural reflex. "F-Father...don't hurt me...please..." He whispered.

"...!" Alfred couldn't believe what he heard.

'His dad..._abused_ him?' Alfred could feel the anger welling up within him.

"Trust me, if your dad were here, you wouldn't be alive right now." Natalia commented. "We know all about your past. We read your file."

Alfred looked at her. "H-how...?"

She smirked. "How else? We snuck into the principal's office."

"Dirty, good for nothing..." Alfred began. Natalia's blade got closer to Alfred's neck, which made him shut up.

"Ahhh!" Alfred heard Arthur's piercing cry and looked in the direction of the scream. His eyes widened when he saw Sadiq kicking him.

"That's for nearly punching me out earlier!"

Arthur tried to defend himself, but had little luck in doing so.

"You bastards, leave him alone!" Alfred yelled, trying to get free from Natalia's grip.

Just then, out of nowhere, another fist met Sadiq's face. Sadiq was sent flying and hit the wall behind him.

"What the hell...?" Lovino, Natalia, and Ivan looked in the direction the fist came from, to see a tall teenager standing there. He had blonde hair that was spiked up, and his face just screamed 'obnoxious'. He was wearing a red dress shirt and black pants.

"Hey, don't you bøller have anything better to do?" The teen smirked.

"And who the hell are you?" Natalia yelled.

"People like you don't deserve to know my name." The teen scoffed. "Now beat it before I call the cops on you."

Natalia looked at Ivan. "What should we do, brother?"

Ivan merely smiled, like always. "We'll let this one go...for now. Come along." And with that, Ivan and his group left the premises. Alfred ran over to Arthur, who regained some of his composure.

"Arthur, you okay?" Alfred asked. Arthur glared at the American.

Alfred frowned. "Stupid question. Right." He then turned towards the other teen. "Thanks for that, you were a lifesaver!"

The teen smiled. "No problem! I can't stand bullies, and it looked like you guys needed some assistance." He held out his hand. "I'm Mathias, by the way. Mathias Køhler."

Alfred shook his hand. "Alfred F. Jones." He looked at Arthur. "And he's Arthur Kirkland."

Mathias smiled widely. "You guys go to World Academy, I'm guessing? I'll be going there, too. I just moved here from Denmark. Got accepted on account of my awesome Math skills." He stated proudly.

"Sweet! We should hang out tomorrow!" Alfred smiled. "We'll be your first friends at World Academy!"

"Glad to hear it, there's one thing to look forward to." Mathias smirked. "I gotta get going, see you guys tomorrow, hopefully!" And he ran off.

"See ya!" Alfred yelled. He then focused his attention on Arthur. "Arthur, we need to get you to the hospital. At the very least the nurse's office at school. They could have ruptured something inside you!" Alfred looked worried. Arthur looked at him.

"...What?" Alfred asked.

"You're not disgusted with a 'fag' like me?" Arthur's eyes narrowed as he averted Alfred's gaze.

"What the hell?" Alfred looked angry. "You are _not_ a fag! Don't let those guys get to you! Anyone would be lucky to be friends with you, Arthur! I know I am!"

"...!" Arthur looked at him with wide eyes. "Wh-What?"

"You heard me..." Alfred then took Arthur in a tight embrace. "Please, don't think of yourself as a useless piece of trash...no one deserves to be treated that way, not by _anyone_!" Alfred sniffed. "You're important to all your friends...and you're important to me!"

Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hesitantly, he returned the hug. "...Thank you, Alfred..."

Alfred and Arthur released from the hug, and Alfred smiled. "Why don't I take you to the hospital...we'll have someone look over you."

Arthur nodded. "Alright...just give me a minute."

Alfred nodded back, and Arthur stepped away from Alfred and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number.

After the second ring, someone picked up from the other end.

"Hello, this is Ian."

Arthur hesitated. "H-Hello, Ian...it's Arthur."

The voice paused. "Arthur? Blimey, what the hell have you been doing that you haven't called me till now? What's goin' on with you, mate?" Ian sounded happier than usual.

"Can you come visit me this weekend...? Please?" Arthur managed to finally get out.

"Arthur?" Ian sounded confused.

Arthur breathed in, then out. "I need to talk to someone...about my past."

* * *

><p>Wow this is a long chapter. Well, I hope you liked it. I hope I didn't bore you guys...^_^"<p>

And some of you might be wondering why Elizabeth, in the first chapter, wanted Arthur to find a GIRL, while in this chapter she walked in on Arthur and Francis and didn't sound upset. Don't worry, that will be explained in later chapters. I was trying to get the point across that Elizabeth doesn't want Arthur to be gay, but isn't as mean and upfront about it as John was.

For those that don't know, here are the real names for some of the characters:

Sadiq Annan = Turkey

Lovino Vargas = Romano

Natalia Afroskaya = Belarus

Ivan Braginski = Russia

Mathias Køhler = Denmark

Ian = Scotland

Collin = Ireland

Kane = Wales

Thank you for reading, and please review! x3


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